DPA
Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government said Monday that the country's judiciary has the right to decline to appoint a United Nations-nominated judge to the Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal.
The controversial claim was made by a government spokesman and followed unconfirmed reports from local media that judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet was not endorsed as the court's new international co-investigating judge at a meeting of Cambodia's Supreme Council of Magistracy (SCM) on Friday.
Swiss national Kasper-Ansermet, who had been in limbo for a month until Phnom Penh convened the judicial body, was set to replace controversial German judge Siegfried Blunk. Blunk quit in October citing political interference in two cases currently under investigation, known as Cases 003 and 004.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan declined to confirm the result of Monday's meeting, but emphasised that the body had the power to decide whether to approve a judge or not.
Analysts, however, believe that the SCM may be stretching the limits of its mandate and driving the tribunal deeper into controversy.
'I think this situation has moved from bad to worse. If the SCM has rejected his appointment, it has totally overstepped its authority,' said Clair Duffy, tribunal monitor for Open Society Justice Initiative.
'It is really about Kasper-Ansermet's intention to investigate Cases 003 and 004.'
Senior Cambodian officials have repeatedly said that the government would not permit either case to reach trial at the court. In contrast, Kasper-Ansermet has taken to Twitter to emphasise his commitment to them.
On Sunday, he tweeted in French that he was determined to investigate the cases; a move that he implied could explain 'the resistance of some to my official nomination.'
Martin Nesirky, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, said Monday: 'We have not received any communication from the Royal Government of Cambodia' regarding the status of the Swiss judge's formal appointment.
3 comments:
Thanks you Mr.Kasper Ansermet for your determination on the cases#03#4.
We are all Cambodian not believe with 3khmer rouge leader in jail now ,committed his khmer killing of 3 million of his own citizen.
The UN missed out in 1978 the operation to save Cambodians once and cost Cambodians the huge lost,the Vietnamese inside the UN tell all UN decisions to save Cambodia. The Viet taking advantages of the situation while the westerner Holli-days especially UN head quarter so the VIETNAM sneaked in Cambodia to save but in reality to invade and occupy Cambodia.
There too many times that crime committees Hun Sen and Vietnam the mastermind crime committed in Cambodia got away from UN investigate.
Please shed the JUSTICE for our families members that get the Ethiopia crimes killing .
Justice is in the one-eye dictator Hun Sen only, whether on KR trial or border issues. This is the main reason why dictator Hun Sen sees only the Thai's encroachments on Khmer's soil, while the Vietcongs are left to roam around in Khmer's backyards.
Dictator Hun Sen is blind or ignorant to the Vietnamization of Cambodia today...and this is in history book!
Vietnamization of Champa, Vietnamization of Kampuchea Krom (Mekong Delta), the Vietnamization of LAO, and the Vietnamization of Cambodia--the so-called "NAM TIEN" is still kicking and alive.
encore une fois, si le viétnam et le gouvernement cambodgien sont honnetes ou ils sont transparences pourqoi ils sont si craintifs du tribunal international(le tribunal pour les khmers rouges)? quelle hypocrisie, quel prétexte et quel ignoble?
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